Tribute to Nancy Faller

Nancy Anne Faller, RN, MSN, CWOCN, PhD, died on October 5, 2022, of
pancreatic cancer.

Nancy Faller, as described in her obituary, was “no-nonsense high energy, her distinctive earrings, scarves, and socks” worn with her Birkenstocks. She usually had on a jumper with a white blouse. You could always count on Nancy as being the beacon of what was right. She was never afraid to speak out about what should or needed to be done.

She was kind, caring, and when she talked to you, she would never get distracted by what was going on around her; she was totally focused on the person she was with. She would always seek out the Catholic church close by and invite the rest of us to attend Mass with her. She even once, I believe in Texas one year, had the priest come over to the convention center and give whoever wanted “Holy Communion.”

She would encourage nurses to continue their education and be the best nurse they could be. She would remember what she had talked to you about the last time she saw you and was always interested in an update.

Her patients loved her, and to her they were her family. Nancy was the epitome of “Nancy Nurse.” She loved her family and when her mother needed her, she slowed down her work to help take care of her mother.

Again, as the obituary says, “She would quip, that a true nurse never actually retires because she knows too much.” I am sure up in heaven she is organizing all the nurses and making sure everyone is taken care of. You might be able to pick her out because I am sure she has the “biggest brightest wings” of all.

God rest her soul. We all are better because of her.

—Karen Lou Kennedy-Evans

Nancy was wonderfully persistent and patient-oriented! 

When she and I had shingles, we vowed to write an article about it. We documented our cases, but time slipped by. At each wound meeting, our hugs would generate renewed vows to write that article.  I tried to address this as an Evidence Corner in the journal Wounds (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29847305/), but Nancy never let go. Finally, with multidisciplinary help and wisdom, we published our findings on patient-centered outcomes of herpes zoster (tinyurl.com/mrwdtmhr).

Nancy’s contributions to her patients’ spiritual and physical well-being reverberated throughout the international wound care community. 

A PubMed search performed October 11, 2022, revealed 32 articles she published in the wound/ostomy/continence literature: tinyurl.com/fwxmjtcs.

Her happy, healthy patients and the thoughtful publications she wrote continue to affirm her presence as an enduring, global force in the wound, ostomy, and continence profession.

Farewell, treasured friend, mentor, nurse, and teacher. So glad you walked beside us!

—Laura Bolton, PhD

Per her obituary, Nancy was born on October 6, 1946, and is survived by 7 younger siblings. Nancy was born to Ursula Elaine (Freas) and George Byron Faller of Carlisle, PA. She graduated from Ancilla Domini Academy in Philadelphia, PA, and was awarded a military scholarship to study nursing at St. Joseph’s College in Emmitsburg, MD. Years later she continued with a Master’s degree at Russell Sage in Albany, NY, and earned her PhD, which focused on clean and sterile wound care, at UMass Amherst/Worcester.

Nancy’s long and productive career started at Harrisburg Hospital while waiting to take the State Boards. She fulfilled her military obligation at Fort Knox, followed by a year in Vietnam (1969–1970). Returning from Vietnam, Nancy moved to Rutland, VT, where she first worked with her friend, Maureen, as a waitress—complete with traditional Bavarian costume—in a German restaurant in Killington, and then continued her nursing career. Certified as a Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse (CWOCN), she worked in the Rutland Regional Medical Center, the Rutland Area VNA, and the Vermont Department for Children and Families.

Read the full obituary at Legacy.com